ZenithRising (18 page)

She could feel it all, just like he said, gentle waves
carrying them out to sea together. She felt the swell as his fingers slipped
between her pussy lips and seduced her clitoris out to play. She felt the surge
of energy build as his fingers went lower, dipping into her canal as his palm
rubbed the little nub. The tide rolled in and flowed out again as his hand
imitated the motion between her thighs.

She was so caught up in the imagery she barely noticed when
he shifted her onto her hands and knees then eased her hips back so that her
cunt smoothly enveloped his cock and she was perched on his thighs. The
position created a pressure inside her that was unlike anything she’d ever
felt. And when she moved her hips she gave herself an exquisite sensation of
pleasure. “Ohmigod,” she gasped and his hands immediately covered her breasts
and squeezed.

“You’ve got the helm, captain,” he teased. “Take us home.”

She had never laughed in the middle of sex but she couldn’t
resist a giggle before accepting his challenge. She moved hesitantly at first,
uncertain whether the spear of pleasure could be repeated. It seemed impossible
but with each downward slide of her vagina his cock seemed to grow and press a
nerve button deep inside her.

She sensed him straining to hold back and loved him for
giving this to her but with each wave crashing onto the beach she got closer to
her own crest. From slow glides up and down, her hips gradually moved faster
until she was slapping her bottom against his thighs, riding wave after wave,
higher and wilder, finally taking them both roiling onto the beach.

As Maggie floated back to reality she knew she’d never been
so sated or happy but the overpowering feeling was exhaustion. She would have
been happy to sleep right where they were but Noah had enough energy to get
them back to their suite before giving in.

* * * * *

For the first time, Noah was still in bed next to her when
she opened her eyes in the morning. She smiled and yawned and stretched with a
satisfied groan. “I feel like I slept for a week,” she said.

He leaned over and kissed her navel. “You almost did. It’s
nearly noon. But I’m not one to talk. I just woke a few minutes ago. Must have
been all the traveling we’ve done.”

Everything came back to her in a rush and her fingers flew
to her earlobe. No earrings.
Was it all a dream?
A moment later he
dangled an antique diamond earring in front of her.

“I took them off you before I closed my eyes. Didn’t want to
take the chance of swallowing one of our souvenirs.”

She relaxed a little but not completely. “I don’t know about
you but I’m feeling…disoriented. We just had this amazing, totally weird week
and then,
bam
, we’re back where we were before it happened. I assume we
fixed what we were sent there to do but I feel like I was reading this exciting
book then was left hanging at the end. I want to know what happened.”

“Me too,” Noah said. “And since we’re back in the
twenty-first century, it should be easy. We might be able to find something
ourselves using the internet but there’s also an investigation firm I’ve used
before. I figured I’d give them a call.”

“Or you could have your assistant do it for you.” She got up
and grabbed her robe.

“Hey, where’re you going?”

She stopped at the doorway and flashed him a smile. “I just
realized I’m late for work.”

“But your boss wants to take a shower with you,” he called
as she turned away.

She came back to him and gave him a firm closed-mouth kiss.
“And your assistant would enjoy that too but then it would be another couple
hours before we get to work and my curiosity is killing me.”

He crossed his arms and pouted. “Fine. But I liked you
better as my captain.”

She smirked at him and walked away before the memory he
triggered enticed her to change her mind.

Maggie felt totally refreshed and appropriately dressed when
she returned to the common room. Noah was already working at the computer on
the dining room table and lunch had been delivered. The clean, manly scent of
him reached her nose even before the smell of food reminded her how long it had
been since she’d eaten. If she had to choose, her stomach would lose.

He motioned for her to come sit beside him but when she got
close he pulled her onto his lap and into a deep, open-mouthed, tongue-stroking
kiss. Despite her intention to stay in work mode, it took him less than a
second to melt her resistance. “You win,” she murmured against his mouth.

“You agree I’m the boss?” He kneaded her breast as he kissed
her neck.

She sighed as her nipple puckered beneath his palm despite
the layers of cloth protecting it. “Yes sir. You are the boss.”

“And you agree you’re supposed to do what I ask?” He lightly
pinched the peak.

“Yes sir.”

“And you will never ever leave my bed again without my
permission.”

She straightened her back and made a face at him.

“Too far?” he asked with a crooked grin.

“Just a tad.” She shifted on his lap so she could see the computer
screen. “Anything yet?”

“I just got on and sent an email to the investigator I
mentioned. Hopefully he’ll have time for me this afternoon. How about some
lunch before we start our own search?”

She got off his lap and pulled the lunch tray closer. “How
about we eat while we search?”

He shook his head in mock disappointment. “We have really
got to do something about this terrible work ethic of yours.”

It was fairly easy to discover that Broderick’s father ended
up serving two terms in Congress but two hours later they had made no progress
uncovering anything about his son or Shannon.

“It doesn’t mean anything bad happened,” Noah insisted.
“Just that he never did anything noteworthy.”

“Considering his, uh, personality, I think I would have been
shocked if he did. But then why would it have been important to save them?”

Noah gave it some thought. “Maybe it was their child who had
to be saved. The investigator has access to all sorts of documents that we
don’t. The income tax records alone should tell us a lot.” He quickly checked
his email. “Nothing yet. And I’m getting tired of sitting. How about a walk?”

As they ambled through the hotel lobby, Maggie couldn’t help
but think about the day she first arrived at the Davenport. So much had
happened since then. Her world and her view of it had been completely altered.

Suddenly something, or rather
someone
, very familiar
came into view. Pushing a fully loaded baggage cart was her mysterious bellhop.
She gave Noah a nudge and they both strode directly into Reynard’s path.

“Excuse me,” he said politely.

“Reynard, it’s
us
,” Maggie said with exaggerated
meaning.

He smiled and nodded. “Ah, yes. Ms. Harrison. And then this
would be the most famous author, Noah Nash. I hope you are having a pleasant
stay. Was there something I might do for you?”

She frowned. He looked the same and sounded the same but he
didn’t seem to be aware of any of the supernatural encounters they had shared.

Noah squeezed Maggie’s elbow and replied for them. “Oh no,
thank you. She had just told me how helpful you had been and I wanted to say
thank you.”

Reynard smiled. “You are most welcome but I was just doing
my job.” He waited for them to move and then continued on his way.

“Too weird,” Maggie said with a shake of her head. She
looked back at the bellhop pushing the cart. Suddenly he looked back at her and
she saw a glint of gold in his eyes before he winked at her and turned away
again. “Just doing his job, my ass.”

Noah laughed out loud. “I’m sure he has his reasons.”

A few minutes later they were passing by the shops and Noah
said, “I want to buy you a present. What would you like?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need a present.”

“I’m not ridiculous. I missed your last birthday and the one
before that and the one—”

“All right,” she cut in. “You can buy me something but only
if you’re going to enjoy it too.”

He frowned. “I don’t think they have
that
sort of
shop here.”

She chuckled. “You might be surprised. I know exactly what I
want that I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy and they
do
have it here.”

Without another word she led him directly into a boutique
shoe store and stopped between the Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik displays. In
under five seconds his expression morphed from curiosity to awareness to lust
to amusement. She waited for his gaze to land on a particularly sexy
stiletto-heeled sandal with a network of skinny snakeskin straps and a
crystal-studded ankle strap before pointing it out to a very solicitous
saleslady.

For the next hour, Maggie tried on every pair of shoes Noah
gave a nod to and paraded up and down the aisle to…
see how they felt
. He
really liked eight pairs.

And she let him pay for all eight.

They were on their way back through the lobby with their
purchases when another familiar face appeared in front of her.

“Hello, Ms. Harrison,” Lillian Davenport said with a big
smile that once again did not reach her eyes. “I’m glad to see you’re able to
take a break from your work.” Her words were light but the sarcasm was barely
veiled. She looked at Noah and raised her brows.

Maggie quickly jumped into her role as assistant. “Miss
Davenport, may I present Noah Nash?”

“How do you do?” he asked warmly, shaking her hand. “I can’t
thank you enough for arranging for such a talented assistant for me. She’s
already turned out to be invaluable.”

“Really? How nice. Now, don’t hesitate to ask if there is
anything else we can do to make your stay here a memorable one.”

He grinned. “That’s very kind of you but I believe Ms.
Harrison is quite capable of taking care of all my needs.”

Maggie felt her cheeks flush but there was no way to stop it
and Ms. Davenport noticed.

“Well then, I will leave you both to…your day.” She turned
her slightly stiff smile to Maggie. “I’ll be looking forward to hearing from
you soon.”

As soon as the CEO was out of earshot, Noah asked, “What was
that all about?”

Maggie sighed. “Something I was hoping not to have to tell
you about. Let’s go upstairs first.”

He held his questions until they were inside the suite and
he put the bags in his bedroom. “I’m all ears.”

She made him sit down next to her on the sofa then took a
deep breath. “First, understand the only reason I didn’t say anything before
was because I didn’t want to do anything that might affect your creative flow.”

“Okay. You were being thoughtful. Got it. Go on.”

“Second, she threatened me and my friend Cory, who owns the
agency I work for.”

Noah’s jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. “That bitch
threatened you…and you didn’t think you should tell me about it?”

She bit her lower lip. “Please don’t be angry.”

He looked angry anyway. “Just explain.”

“She told me I had to report to her. Tell her what you were
planning to write about. And if it looked like you were going to say anything
about her grandfather, I had to give her advance notice so she could stop you.”

Noah’s expression relaxed. “And that is the direction I was
going in. I see. And you didn’t want to warn me because…”

“If I told you, it could make you go in a different
direction just to help me.”

He mulled it all over. “You’re right. That’s what I would
have done. But now I have a surprise for you. I already decided to go a
different way with my next book. I may not mention the Davenport at all.”

Maggie felt as though a weight had been lifted off her back.
“Are you ready to talk about it yet?”

“Well, I can tell you it’s not a horror.”

She perked up immediately. “I like it already. What else?”

He laughed. “I’m not saying I’m done writing horror, I’m
just going to add a different genre to my bibliography. I was thinking about…a
romantic, time-travel suspense.”

She lunged at him and planted kisses all over his face. “I
love it already. And wait until I tell you about Shannon’s life story. I’m sure
you can use it somehow. I was absolutely amazed and I even thought about how
you should write it someday.”

He held her face still to get one good kiss. “I take it
you’re happy with my decision. Which is good because I’m going to need help
from someone really familiar with that type of story.”

“I’m definitely your girl.”

His grin broadened. “You certainly are, Sugarlips.”

She punched his shoulder. “I really hate that name.”

He caught her fist and kissed her knuckles. “No you don’t.”

She smiled. “No. I don’t.”

“Now that we have that settled, let’s see if we got an
answer about the rest of Shannon’s life.”

Another hour passed before the email arrived but it answered
quite a few questions. The quantity of information the agency had gathered in
an afternoon was mind-boggling, yet they referred to it as preliminary.

Shannon and Broderick were married in 1927 and had one son
and three daughters between 1927 and 1932. Broderick’s early work history was
sketchy but during the Depression, when others were suffering, he moved the
family to California and ended up having a decent career as a B-grade movie
actor using the name Ricky Martin, one name neither Maggie nor Noah had thought
to search for.

The four children grew up, the girls got married and the boy
became involved in California politics. They had all passed on by the turn of
the century. There were ten grandchildren, eight of whom were still alive and
twenty-one great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren currently
living in various parts of the country.

“Wow,” summed up Maggie’s overall impression. “That’s
amazing. We didn’t just save Shannon. Thirty-eight more lives took place
because she didn’t die in 1927.”